Grove Theater, Shippensburg, PA - April 23rd, 2015
Aug 17, 2016 16:56:58 GMT
Post by jamesn on Aug 17, 2016 16:56:58 GMT
This was one concert I felt VERY fortunate to have attended! My friend Mike A. and I flew in separately to Baltimore, he from Minneapolis and me from Dallas' Love Field. We drove the next morning to Shippensburg, stopping for a while in Frederick, Maryland, to visit the Museum of Civil War Medicine. It turned out (by accident!) that most members of the fan club were staying in the same downtown hotel as Jackie and Mike Evancho. Mike A. and I were tormented by other members who just had to tell us BOTH times we missed seeing them in the lobby, that afternoon and next morning as well! The best I was able to do was to nod to Mike after I saw him taking a phone and ill-considered smoke break; and to later ask him to thank Jackie for us after her "surprise" after the concert. The fan gatherings were held in an attached restaurant/bar in the hotel's ground floor, and I hoped we might see the Evanchos at the noisy post-concert gathering, but it was jammed by students from the college so no luck there.
The Luhrs Center was only a short drive away since Shippensburg's pretty small, and we found quite a large crowd waiting in the lobby. Our seats weren't down front, but a little farther back which allowed me to talk with some first-time Jackie concert attendees who were suitably impressed as the night went on. The concert proceeded about as the others before and since have, but we'd all seen Lisa's notice in the old Jackie fansite about a "surprise" so were waiting for something. Jackie exited from her set as usual and Peter introduced Nessun Dorma as usual - but about halfway through we saw Jackie reappear from the left of the stage. (Stage right to those onstage.)
The nervousness or "rustiness" referred to in some of these reports was likely the result of what was really a pretty impromptu appearance. No doubt this had been discussed, planned and even rehearsed, but probably with the proviso Jackie might change her mind about it. I think the most significant aspect of this performance of Nessun Dorma is to remember this was nearing the end of Jackie's enforced physical growth and maturity from childhood to adolescence when some of the previous restraints on her voice were being relaxed. Even if she HAD practiced it, it's little wonder it wouldn't come out "perfect" the first time in so long an absence. Of course, all "the usual suspects" in attendance went wild and didn't come down from the high until well after the concert ended!
The Luhrs Center was only a short drive away since Shippensburg's pretty small, and we found quite a large crowd waiting in the lobby. Our seats weren't down front, but a little farther back which allowed me to talk with some first-time Jackie concert attendees who were suitably impressed as the night went on. The concert proceeded about as the others before and since have, but we'd all seen Lisa's notice in the old Jackie fansite about a "surprise" so were waiting for something. Jackie exited from her set as usual and Peter introduced Nessun Dorma as usual - but about halfway through we saw Jackie reappear from the left of the stage. (Stage right to those onstage.)
The nervousness or "rustiness" referred to in some of these reports was likely the result of what was really a pretty impromptu appearance. No doubt this had been discussed, planned and even rehearsed, but probably with the proviso Jackie might change her mind about it. I think the most significant aspect of this performance of Nessun Dorma is to remember this was nearing the end of Jackie's enforced physical growth and maturity from childhood to adolescence when some of the previous restraints on her voice were being relaxed. Even if she HAD practiced it, it's little wonder it wouldn't come out "perfect" the first time in so long an absence. Of course, all "the usual suspects" in attendance went wild and didn't come down from the high until well after the concert ended!